Children's Home of Illinois

Brief History

CHILDREN'S HOME ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS

In 1866, a group of civic-minded Peoria women met at the First Universalist Church and formed the "Christian Home Mission". The group established an "Industrial School" to teach young girls sewing and mending skills.

The women also established a practice they called "District Visiting". They divided the city into twelve districts, one or two women volunteering to visit within a specific district. They sought to identify families in need of various kinds of assistance and to provide that help. The "relief" offered to families included groceries, coal, blankets, and clothing.

A third goal of the Christian Home Mission was to establish a shelter for homeless women and children, but for a time they lacked the funds necessary to achieve this goal.

Nine years later, on June 5, 1875, the first "Home for the Friendless" was opened on Merriman Street between Third and Fourth Streets. The first Matron was Mrs. Lander. The Home had a capacity of six to eight women and children.

Another civic-minded women's organization formed about this same time. Called the "Women's Christian Association", its goals were very similar to those of the Christian Home Mission.

On September 24, 1875, the two groups merged, creating the "Women's Christian Home Mission, Inc." (WCHM). Mrs. Erastus D. Hardin was the first President of the newly formed group. A State charter was obtained on February 16, 1876.

In May of 1876, the Home for the Friendless moved to 512 Seventh Street, owing to a need for additional space to better serve women and children. The building was owned by Lydia Moss Bradley, a charter member of the Women's Christian Home Mission, Inc. (WCHM). This Home had space for about ten women and children.

In 1880, the WCHM purchased the "Judge Kellogg homestead" at Main and Flora, and moved the Home for the Friendless to this new location which would accommodate up to twenty-five people.

On June 1, 1883, the WCHM branched out, opening the "Home for Aged Women" at 823 Main Street, and in April, 1884, the "Young Women's Boarding Home" was opened at Franklin and Sixth Streets.

The need for services continued to tax the Home for the Friendless. In 1891, the WCHM bought "Bell Place" at Knoxville Road and Thrush. On September 22, 1891, the cornerstone was laid and, on May 10, 1892, the newest Home was officially opened.

In about 1901, the Industrial School, dating to 1866, was closed, most likely due to a threatened scarlet fever epidemic. District Visiting was still occurring regularly.

In 1914, bequest moneys from Phoebe Rose and Henry C. Block were used to build a small school building behind the Home on Thrush. In later years, this building became known as "the bungalow".

In 1919, Mrs. Mary Barker, a Board member since 1900, ordered plans to be drawn for a new, much larger building next door to the Home for the Friendless on property she had purchased in 1916. The new building, the "Walter Barker Memorial", and its grounds, along with the "Laura Nelson Jobst Memorial Playground", were officially turned over to the WCHM on April 16, 1921.

In May, 1935, the name "Home for the Friendless" was replaced with "The Children's Home". Two years later, in 1937, the economic realities of the Great Depression resulted in the WCHM joining the Community Fund. District Visiting ended about this time. In 1939, the Block/Rose School building which had been closed for several years was rented out.

In 1949-50, the 1891 Home was rented out to other social service agencies. All residential services were then offered from the Walter Barker Memorial.

In 1954, the WCHM received a bequest from Mabel Moir Lockwood totatling about one million dollars. The organization then stopped seeking financial aid from the Community Fund, but remained on close, cordial terms with it.

In August of 1964, Sommer House, a group home for five high school age girls, opened at 2019 North Bigelow Street. In February of 1967, Boys Group Home was opened at 2141 North North Street, and in January of 1973 it moved to 613 East Frye.

In August of 1976, the Pre-School Family Center (now called Kiefer School) opened and its child abuse program component merged with the WCHM. A year later, the Home resumed usage of the 1891 building by moving the Pre-School Family Center into the first floor.

During the decade of the 1980's, the Home opened a series of community-based service programs in an effort to reach children and families earlier and earlier in the problem cycle, and to help prevent the unnecessary removal of children from their homes.

In May of 1986, the Home opened its "Family Service Center" at 444 East Washington Street in East Peoria. In August, 1987, the agency changed both its corporate and public names to "The Children's Home Association of Illinois". Later in the decade, the Home opened a new office at 1520 Northeast Adams Street, and two Transitional Living homes for older teens located at 208 and 210 East Thrush.

In 1990, the Home purchased the former Academy of Our Lady high school building located at 404 Northeast Madison Street, and several other parcels of property on Madison and Monroe Streets in order to expand residential services to teens. The Barker Memorial building on Knoxville serves pre-teen children.

Today, with a budget of over $18 million and a staff of over 400, The Children's Home is known throughout the State of Illinois for our programs, training, and expertise in the field.